Sun City West, AZ

Four recreation campuses, seven golf courses, and a private member library form much of Sun City West's public realm. The 2020 population was 25,806. Del Webb developed Sun City West on an 11,000-acre site that included part of the former Lizard Acres cattle ranch, and the original community was built out by 1997. It remains unincorporated. The nonprofit Recreation Centers of Sun City West operates member amenities through an elected governing board rather than a municipal parks department. Each recreation campus has a different practical role. R.H. Johnson combines an outdoor pool and fitness center with walking, racquet sports, lawn bowling, bocce, dog parks, mini-golf, clubrooms, and a 30-lane bowling pavilion. Palm Ridge has two indoor pools, an outdoor pool, an indoor track, pickleball, and a ballroom; Kuentz adds softball, woodworking space, and the Stardust Theatre; Beardsley includes an indoor pool, greenhouse, mini-golf, and a model railroad.

ATTRJohn Menard from Phoenix, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0

More than 90 chartered clubs cover arts, crafts, sports, games, music, computers, and collecting. The 14,000-square-foot R.H. Johnson Library holds more than 49,000 books, movies, puzzles, games, and other items and is staffed by employees and more than 150 volunteers. Its current services include device instruction, study rooms, author talks, virtual reality, chess and Scrabble groups, and materials mailed to homebound members. U.S. 60 and Loop 303 frame the community's southwest and northern edges, while the recreation centers distribute most organized daily activity across the interior.